You know how you learn something that is so important that you wish that you could go back to the past so that you can do them right?
Well, I feel that way about planning professional development. My approach has always been that ‘more is more’ and that in order for a teacher to learn to do whatever it is that I am trying to teach them, they have to know EVERYTHING and EVERY NUANCE of that thing.
What I’ve come to realize (and it’s taken me, ummm…oh, just 20 years to realize it!) is that I need to give teachers the least amount of information that I can get away with so that they can quickly carry things back to the classroom and get started.
I know it sounds weird and I’m not going to say “less is more” because I don’t mean that. It’s not just about doing less, it’s about working on the RIGHT STUFF. We are plagued not by inaction these days in our schools, but by too much action. And we have to think about this as we coach.
Here are the six questions I now ask myself when I am teaching anything to any educator. These questions help me trim the fat and give them just what they’ll need and not much more:
- What will trip people up? (Spend extra time on this)
- What are the [five] parts of the thing I’m teaching that they absolutely have to learn? (And dump the other content)
- What is the order that the things in #2 above should logically be taught and learned in? (So that it flows and can be easily remembered)
- What is the best way to learn each of the steps? Should we read about it? Model it? Practice in the training room? Watch a video? (Not every piece of content is the best fit for a stand-and-deliver training)
- What is the least amount of training that we can provide or get away with? (Again…cut, cut, cut!)
- What skills have teachers already developed that we can hook this new thing to so it doesn’t feel brand new? (Helps folks feel like it’s always something new…but an advancement in something they’re already doing)
What do you think? How might this info help your instructional coaching team?
Quick Heads Up!
(And I get that this is quite ironic that I’m inviting you to more training after the above writing,
but you can confidently file this under “the right thing” training…see you in September!